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A major trade union has challenged an elite Scottish golf club – which costs more than £100,000 to join – to honour its commitment to pay the living wage after it advertised a job paying below the benchmark fee.
Unite criticised Loch Lomond Golf Club’s November advert for a £12 per hour spa receptionist position, after the real hourly living wage for over 18s was raised from £12 to £12.60 the previous month.
The golf club, a certified living wage employer, did not respond to a request to comment.
The Living Wage Foundation, which accredits the club, told The Ferret that employers have six months to up their pay after it publishes the living wage each year. But Unite called the discrepancy “inexcusable”.
The row comes after the union accused the Living Wage Foundation of “ethics washing”, following allegations from cleaners that it had accredited another firm paying outsourced workers below the living wage.
Jamie Mann
On 19 January, we revealed that Loch Lomond Golf Club has counted major political donors, a Labour lord, footballers and senior bankers among past shareholders of its parent company, which is registered in the Cayman Islands – a tax haven.
The club is open only to members who can join on a strict invite-only policy, and the entry fees are estimated at well over £100,000 today.
A recent advert for a housekeeping role at the club does not specify an hourly rate, but promises tips, free meals and, in 2025, £2,500 per annum in addition to wages. Workers can also access discounted use of the club’s facilities, including a round of golf.
But Unite argues the club should immediately raise salaries for its lowest paid workers.
“For any employer – especially a prestigious local brand – to claim to be a living wage employer without actually paying the rate is inexcusable,” said Bryan Simpson, Unite’s lead organiser for hospitality.
The real living wage “exists to ensure that workers are paid a wage they can live on and customers can be made aware of who the decent employers are,” he argued.
“Hospitality is already the lowest paid sector in the Scottish economy.” He added: “We would urge Loch Lomond Golf Club to do the right thing and pay their workers the *real* living wage of £12.60 which they claim they pay before any more reputational damage is done.”
Lorna Slater, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, echoed Simposn’s view. “I urge Loch Lomond Golf Club to address this immediately,” she said. “Every worker deserves a real living wage and an end to the stress, anxiety and pain that comes from poverty pay.
“Prestigious and high profile venues need to be leading by example.”
A spokesman for the Living Wage Foundation said: “We encourage accredited employers to implement the new rates at the earliest opportunity, and we know that many do. However, to make it practical and possible for employers, we do offer a six-month implementation period, so the deadline for employers to implement the new rates is May 2025.
“Loch Lomond Golf Club are therefore in compliance with the terms of their accreditation as long as all real Living Wage roles are uprated to the new rates by this deadline.”
Header image credit: Kindel Media via Pexels.
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